Nevado Palcaraju is a mountain in the Andes

Andes

The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...

 cordillera

Cordillera

A cordillera is an extensive chain of mountains or mountain ranges, that runs along a coastline . It comes from the Spanish word cordilla, which is a diminutive of cuerda, or "cord"...

 and at 6,274m is the eighth highest summit in the Cordillera Blanca

Cordillera Blanca

The Cordillera Blanca is a mountain range in the Ancash Region of Peru. Part of the larger Andes range, it includes 33 major peaks over high in an area wide and long.-Overview:...

 of northern Peru

Peru

Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....

. Summits of the mountain besides its main summit Palcaraju Centro are:

• Palcaraju Este (6,180 m)
• Palcaraju Oeste (6,110 m)
• Palcaraju Sur (5,900 m)

Nevado Palcaraju is part of the Chinchey

Chinchey

Chinchey is a mountain in the Andes of Peru. It has a height of 6309 metres....

 massif, and the nearest summit above 6,000 m is Nevado Chinchey

Chinchey

Chinchey is a mountain in the Andes of Peru. It has a height of 6309 metres....

 (6,309m) itself, 5 km away in an east-southeasterly direction.

The nearest town is Huaraz

Huaraz

Huaraz is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the Departmento de Ancash and the seat of government of the Provincia de Huaraz . The urban agglomerations population is distributed over the districts of Huaraz and Independencia. It was estimated in 2007 to exceed 120,000...

, 25 km in the southwest, situated in Callejón de Huaylas

Callejón de Huaylas

The Santa Valley is a inter-andean valley in the Ancash Region in the north-central highlands of Peru. Due to its location between two mountain ranges it is known as Callejón de Huaylas —Alley of Huaylas—, whereas Huaylas refers to the name of the territorial division's name during the Viceroyalty...

. This town was struck by a mudslide in 1941, descending from Palcacocha Lake, 1,700 m below the summit of Palcaraju.